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Seeing how he seems like a genuinely humble and all-round decent human being, let’s assume that Chris Martin is as horrified as anyone at the way things have unfolded, writes Vancouver's straight.com.   Imagine setting out to create something new and boundary-pushing, a reinvention, if you will, of a band that’s easily become the biggest success story of its generation. That’s what the boys of Coldplay did with 2008’s Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, a record that found them, for the f

It was pretty obvious that Coldplay were going to incorporate some backing music to flesh out the exotic sound of some of their material, such as the opening number "Life In Technicolor," from last year's Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, writes Blog Critics.   Released in May, 2008, Coldplay's fourth studio album was the number one selling album in the US (over 2 million) and internationally (7.8 million) and it debuted at number one in 36 countries. It's also the most paid-for downloa

Even rock stars get tired of talking about themselves eventually. Case in point: Chris Martin. The 32-year-old Coldplay frontman has spent the last year being interviewed by reporters far and wide about the band's gazillion-selling, chart-topping, Grammy-winning album Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, writes the Winnipeg Sun.   And now that the awards are shelved, the sales are tabulated and the Britrockers' lengthy world tour is finally wrapping up in September, the last thing he reall

Chris Martin may be Coldplay's most famous face, but for 25 local fans, guitarist Jonny Buckland is the star of the show. Buckland has several relatives in Alberta, many of whom will be taking in the British rock group's sold-out Saddledome show tomorrow, writes the Calgary Sun.   "We all can't wait to see him," says Jacky Joki, whose late father Ernest Buckland was a first cousin of the guitarist's grandfather. A bunch of us are travelling to Vancouver and Edmonton to see him as well."   Joki

Coldplay may very well be the biggest rock band in the world right now, with the best-selling album of 2008 and a tour that’s criss-crossing the globe. At the same time, they may be the least "rock" rock band in the world, writes the Winnipeg Free Press.   You’d likely be hard-pressed to pick the unassuming members out of a crowd (unless singer Chris Martin had glamorous wife Gwyneth Paltrow on his arm) and even their recent stab at rock-star flamboyance — wearing colourful Seargent Pepper-style

Some bands leave you wanting more. Chris Martin and Coldplay definitely aren't one of them. At least, they weren't at MTS Centre on Monday night, when the Brit-rock foursome finally made their long-delayed local debut. What they were instead was a band that gave a sold-out crowd of 12,500 fervent fans everything they could possibly want — and then gave them more, writes the Winnipeg Sun.   You wanted hits? They had ’em: Nearly two dozen numbers, including most of their gazillion-selling 2008 alb

Despite being the adored, much analyzed and fantasized about lead singer of one of the planet's biggest rock bands, Chris Martin of Coldplay is practical, even humble about his role. Sitting on the floor of a rented house in Los Angeles, enjoying the California sunshine and the taste of the strawberry he's just finished, Martin is deliberately and charmingly low-key, writes the Winnipeg Free Press. Full discussion on this show is at the Winnipeg thread here in the Coldplay Live forum.   "It just

We've had a spate of excellent reviews of Coldplay's most recent show at Omaha's Qwest Centre and also much discussion and feedback on the crowd. Below are some of the fan reviews found on the Coldplaying forums, which you can also read and reply to (even if you went to the show or not) at the Coldplay Live forum here in the Omaha thread...   The show: I hung around outside early to try to get a glimpse of them, but some fat ass security guard who makes $10/hr had to feel on a power trip and tel

Veteran singer Yusuf has reached out to Coldplay - just weeks after he accused them of stealing one of his melodies to use in their hit track Viva La Vida. The star - formerly known as Cat Stevens - claims the band lifted elements of his epic 18 minute song Foreigner Suite, which was released in 1973, and incorporated them into their 2008 single.   His claims came after guitarist Joe Satriani took legal action over the song - accusing Coldplay of copying segments from his 2004 instrumental If I

Coldplay didn't let down its fans Saturday night, even if frontman Chris Martin said he was nervous about it. Most in their teens and 20s, more than 11,000 people showed up at Qwest Center Omaha on Saturday night to see the Grammy-winning British quartet, writes the Omaha World Herald.   Making stops all over the world, the group has been on its “Viva La Vida” tour since nearly a year ago. “I don't know why it's taken us so long to get to Nebraska. We must have been nervous,” frontman Chris Mart

Two unidentified men who appeared to be wearing concession-worker work clothes robbed Wells Fargo Arena concession employees at gunpoint late Friday night, report the Des Moines Register today.   The Des Moines arena was staging the Coldplay concert as witnesses told police one of the men worked a different concession stand earlier in the evening. No arrests were made after the men left the area with an undisclosed amount of cash.   Witnesses said the men, wearing clothes labeled with the name o

Three bands that had never played in Des Moines took the stage Friday night at Wells Fargo Arena, but you wouldn't have known that they were unfamiliar with our fair city. Coldplay singer Chris Martin thanked the crowd for skipping out on Winefest, writes the Des Moines Register.   Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody managed to pronounce "Des Moines" correctly (Howling Bells singer Juanita Stein wasn't as lucky, adding an "S" sound.) "If we knew how good the audience is, we'd have come a long ti

With heartfelt rockers Snow Patrol now on the road with Coldplay as their latest support act, the official site asked frontman Gary Lightbody how it's going...   Hello Gary, how are you? Hey there, am grand thanks.   Where are you? On our way from Texas to the show in Des Moines, Ohio tonight.   How have the first few days of the tour with Coldplay been? They've been great. We've been treated really well and they have a lovely crew that are being great with our crew. Also they are kicking ass e

Dear Lovers and Friends, My glasses have been found! Last night, my already tired eyes struggled to articulate the flood of thoughts, reflections, and realizations about my trip in NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana) without my glasses to no avail.   Thankfully, they’ve been found and my eyes have become of use once again! Stay tuned for my post about NOLA as I work through my draft of it. In other news, I recently moved out of Bus 2 to make room for new lampies (lighting technicians) and I’m proud to

Coldplay is a musical giant. But selling millions of albums and winning a pile of Grammys hasn't turned members of the band into egomaniac rock stars. While on tour, they spend their time doing things like any average Joe, writes the Omaha World-Herald.   “Often we have our families with us and that keeps us very busy. We play soccer. We read. We do all the things that everyone else does,” said Coldplay drummer Will Champion. The group's “Viva La Vida” tour stops in Omaha on Saturday.   “Viva La

Accusations of Plagiarism Are Nothing New in Music World, writes the San Luis Obispo blogs. Maybe Coldplay should cover the Barenaked Ladies song “It’s All Been Done.”   According to this story (watch the video!) posted on CNN’s web site, Coldplay has been fighting charges from guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani that their song “Viva La Vida” was ripped off from Satriani’s “If I Could Fly.” The debate has been going on for a while now — Satriani has actually pursued the charges in court — but CNN not

An interesting article has emerged online today as a preview to the show at the AT&T Center in San Antonio tonight (June 10). Hard to tell whether the author is a fan of Coldplay or not, but one thing is for sure this article is meant to negate the effects of the New York Times one back in 2005 entitled 'The Case against Coldplay'. Still struggling to figure out if it worked or what the point of it is. You can discuss the article at the Coldplay forum here. Here's the said article, courtesy

Getting into the middle of a plagiarism dispute between hot British band Coldplay and legendary American guitarist Joe Satriani has made Winnipeg music teacher Andrew Wasson a minor Internet star, writes the Toronto Star.   Last December, Wasson, owner of Creative Guitar Studio, did a nine-minute analysis of the similarities between Coldplay's 2009 Grammy-winning song of the year, "Viva La Vida," and Satriani's 2004 instrumental, "If I Could Fly."   His conclusion, based on comparisons of rhythm

Noblesville, Ind. - When an enormous yellow beach ball bounced out of the audience and hit bassist Guy Berryman in the head in front of more than 20,000 fans in attendance, he couldn’t help but turn to his fellow Coldplay band mates and laugh, writes the Indianapolis Star.   Lead singer songwriter, Chris Martin, with a wide smile, launched the ball back into the crowd, but only after he’d boyishly kicked it around the stage to his satisfaction and the crowd’s amusement.   The prop was released w

Coldplay's June 5 show was consistent with shows on their last tour, which also stopped at Verizon Wireless Music Center, writes nuvo.net.   Just like in 2005, the platinum-selling British group used tricks to win the crowd, dropping big yellow balloons filled with confetti during the rendition of their first hit, "Yellow." This time around they used not just one, but two auxiliary stages - one in the upper pavilion and the other on the lawn - to give the sold-out amphitheater a sense of intimac

Realizing that attending Saturday night's Coldplay show--their first in Nashville in six years--was a no-lose situation, as we were guaranteed an entertaining spectacle of sound and vision, we decided we owed it to ourselves to witness the phenomenon of the band's success firsthand, and made it down to the Sommet Center on time, writes the Nashville Scene blogs.   There, we got caught up in the cattle-herd of teenagers outfitted in Viva La Vida fatigues, popped-collar frat boys and their girlfri

In the Fountains of Wayne minidrama "Someone to Love," lovelorn corporate attorney Seth Shapiro "puts Coldplay on, pours a glass of wine/curls up with a book about organized crime." The implication is clear: Coldplay is the feel-good band of yuppies the world over, writes The Times-Picayune ahead of Coldplay's show in New Orleans.   In a decade, singer Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman and drummer Will Champion have evolved from utter unknowns to cultural touchstones.

Concerts rarely inspire audience members to turn their attention in as many different directions as Coldplay's Saturday night show at Nashville's Sommet Center did, writes The Tennessean.   The British rock group's lavish stage production frequently urged its attendees to take in the spectacle around them rather than focus on the band on stage. Lasers shot across the venue for their hypnotic performance of "Clocks." Giant balloons rained from the ceiling at the start of the band's breakthrough h

Even if he's singing in character, it can be a little hard to swallow the opening line of Coldplay's 2008 hit Viva la Vida. "I used to rule the world," front man Chris Martin croons over a mix of regal cellos and dance beats, but anyone who's even casually followed popular music in the past few years can tell you that the British rock group's rule is far from over, writes the Tennessean ahead of Coldplay's show at the Sommet Center on Saturday.   The group is one of the few modern rock acts able

The rock ’n’ roll crown rests easily on the collective head of Coldplay, a band that balanced earnestness against whimsy and virtuosity against the basics Friday night at Verizon Wireless Music Center, writes Metromix Indianapolis.   Vocalist Chris Martin -- the focal point of attention since the U.K. band released debut album “Parachutes” in 2000 -- makes everything land in its right place in a live setting. At the top of the show, Coldplay and its audience of 20,207 fumbled for common ground a